Nasty Little Man

Thoughts on Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion

The film industry has taken numerous cracks at telling the story of Tibet. The best known are Brad Pitt's Seven Years in Tibet and Martin Scorsese's Kundun. Both films were released in 1997 and both serve the Tibet cause well, telling the early story of China's occupation of "the roof of the world."

Other films, like Little Buddha and The Cup (which is a ton of fun, by the way), involve Tibetan monks in exile but don't get into the story of the invasion and destruction of the country.

The 2003 documentary Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion, which I just watched for the first time on Friday night, is an excellent source for all of the most pertinent facts and events during the 56-year occupation of Tibet by China. Narrated by Martin Sheen, it starts dramatically with the story of the monk in the above picture, who was severely burned and beaten during an uprising in 1987. The monk went into a burning building to save other Tibetans from further beatings at the hands of the Chinese police.

From there, the viewer learns about the back-story leading up to China's invasion and how the invasion occurred. It includes fascinating insights into the initial interactions between the Chinese and the Tibetans, which were positive, and how that relationship soured when it became clear that Mao's agenda would include the destruction of religion.

All of the major events that have impacted the country and its people are highlighted in the documentary, including the Cultural Revolution, the death of Mao, which led to a visit to Tibet by representatives of the Dalai Lama, and the pro-democracy protests at Tiananmen Square. Current conflicts like the abduction and imprisonment of the newest incarnation of the Panchen Lama and the construction of the new railway connecting Beijing and Lhasa, which just opened in July and which Tibet advocates fear will lead to further migration by the Chinese into Tibet and turn the natives into a minority in their own country, are also featured.

If you're interested in learning more about this human rights disaster but don't have the time for extensive reading or research, this film is a must-see. I found it in the "special interest" (aka "documentaries") section of my local Blockbuster.

posted by Kinder Gentler Little Man @ 8:22 PM